Containing the costs of health care has become a priority issue in national health care policy. A significant portion of health care expenditures are for high technology specialized critical medical care units. These units represent major capital investments and plans for construction or major modifications must be reviewed by local health systems agencies. The decision whether or not to invest in new critical beds is a complex one which must consider all of the benefits and costs. Such studies have been conducted by health systems agencies may not have the expertise to do so and to develop systematic and objective investment criteria. The purpose of the proposed project is to review and synthesize all existing research and analyses related to investment criteria for specialized critical care units, and to digest them into a quidebook format which will be useful to state and local health planning agencies. This guidebook will identify the important questions which must be asked by health systems agencies, and provide guidance about the criteria which will help them to make objective judgements about the costs and benefits of proposed critical care units. With this information, health systems agencies throughout the United States will be able to make better decisions which will yield greater social benefits from each dollar of health expenditure. In this manner we will be able to continue to improve the quality and accessibility of health care within the constraints of a cost containment policy.